IU Coach Amy Berbary asks her goalies for one thing each half.
One big save.
In the 50th minute of IU’s 2-0 victory against Indiana State, junior keeper Sarah Stone got it for her.
One of the Hoosier defense’s few miscues on the night allowed Sycamore midfielder Maddie Orf to gather the ball at her feet on the right side within the 18-yard box. Orf sent a shot off her right foot seemingly destined for the upper 90.
Stone lunged forward, managing to get her outstretched right hand onto the ball and punch it into the air. With the ball’s momentum slowed, she backed up and corralled the ball with both hands to preserve what at the time was a one goal lead.
“It looked like nothing,” Berbary said. “She looked like she was in the circus.”
It was that kind of night for Stone, who recorded her fourth career shutout.
Entering the game, it was uncertain whether or not Stone would even get the start. A leg injury kept her out of IU’s lone preseason game against Louisville just six days before.
She participated in the team’s walk through at 10 a.m. She was cleared at 10:05 a.m. She ran the team’s mandatory fitness test at 11:30 a.m. and was declared the team’s starter at 11:50 a.m.
Then she recorded a shutout—eight hours after being cleared.
“She played great,” Berbary said. “She had a couple of big saves for us to hold the shutout so we were really happy with her performance.”
It was Stone’s first game in over a year after not playing a single minute last season. She made seven starts in 11 appearances in 2012 before Shannon Flower won the starting job last season.
The save was one of three for Stone, all coming in the second half. IU controlled possession throughout the night, outshooting Indiana State 19-9.
“I think we’re all really happy that she’s back,” Junior midfielder Jessie Bujouves said of Stone. “She’s been playing really well.”
Bujouves got on the board off a breakaway opportunity in the tenth minute.
Freshman Kayla Smith—who started at forward for IU—sent the ball into the box looking to find a teammate’s foot. After the ball was deflected, senior Bekah White passed to Bujouves who sent a right-footed shot to the lower-right 90.
“Honestly, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Bujouves said. “I just had to keep it low and on the ground. I played it through and it worked out.”
Bujouves added a second goal by order of a penalty kick in the 70th minute to help clinch the Hoosier win.
“We were really pleased with what we were able to do offensively,” White said. “We got to the end line. We were combining and really playing well as a team.”
Berbary called it some of the best looking soccer she had seen since arriving in Bloomington last season.
IU will continue its opening weekend against Eastern Michigan on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Ypsilanti, Mich. In the first of six consecutive road games.
“That’s really going to tell our fans what we’re made of over these next six games,” Berbary said.
